Cultivator and weeder



Nov. 10, 1931. l L, Rn-TER 1,831,686

CULTIVATOR A'ND WEEDER Filed June 27. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 TTURNE/Nov. 10, 1931. A. L. RITTER 1 1,831,686

CULTlV-ATOR AND WEEDER Filed June 27. I928 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

nvz/ew 70 I row and to be adapted'to hand or tractor use,

Patented Nov. 10, 1931 UNITED S'T-ATES' I ADOLi'H L. or sferron,wasnme'ron "cfititiviwoa mn wsataa This invention relates gene'rallytoagricultural implements, and particularly'to t at ty e of cultivator,especially adapted for the cultivation and weedingfo'f smallplants. f pt The main object 'ofthisl inventio'lris to provide a. light,'eflicie'nt, inexp ensi've"ai1d easily operated cultivator, the'useofvvhich will eliminatelalarge porti n; of the hand labor ordinarilyrequired forihandfweeding.

Theseconid object is to constructa cultivator which ,1wi11 moves'teadilyalong the ground without'vertica'l or lateral jumping movementsin order that it may be useful with small plant crops, and by making itpossible to work iriuch closer'to the'plantthan'would.

ordinarily be practical. V p

The third obje'ct'is to avoid any tendency of jcove'rin up the plantsduring the cultlg which may be leafing or' mayfha'vefalle'n over. I 7

The fourth objeotis to deposit the weeds on the top of the newly mulchedearth after the cultivator has passed over-fin order that they may bedestroyed.

nearly the correct time "by reducing the actual amount of time required'for'the opera- 6 tion.

The sixth object is to arrange the opera- I tio'ns performed by thecultivator that each element thereof will perform its'own particularoperation in the best' possible manner, namely that the weeds will becut ofi under the ground before the"groundfhasbecome loosened, or, in"other words, that the weed is firmly held by the grounduntilthe-severing operation is performed.

cultivator that it'will throw thewe'edsaway from the knives to reduce'the' possibility lof choking same The eighth object is to "so:construct the cultivator that it maybe used to straddle'the to suit theconvenience.

The ninth object is to so construct the cul tivator as to provide a widerange of adjust-1 '50ment' and arrangement of parts thereon to ing itsinternal construction section-through the lower portionofthe" cutjtingdisk' showing the mannerfin'which {they va'tion or t 1e injury ofany particular'plants 1 severffthe fiveed roots {before the ground jaround them has i;jbeen'-disturbed. Figure 7 "fshows the actionofthe'pulveri'zing cylinders. 'Figure 8 shows the completed job"withfthep I u 7 plan'ts undisturbed inanarrow central ridge The fifthobj'ectisto make it possible for a gardener to cultivate his cropsatjmore "ternative" form. Figure 10 is afiside 'el'ev'a- Serial Np. 288,655. 7 meet the varying "conditions under which the agriculturist mustlabor. n

1 These, and other objects, will become more i apparent from thespecification following as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inw ch: a a Figure lisa perspective view of the-complete 'dev'icestraddling a row of plants-just p'riortobeginning work. Figure 2 isa'horizontal section through the cultivator taken 'just' above theaxesof the'cylinder and disk showing the relation of the various arts tothe plants. Figure 3-is afdet'ailo the cutting dis k and' its "share.Figure 4' is a detail view of the'pulver izing c linderfshow- 'lineo'uta rowfofplants. "Figure 6' is a section through thecutting knivesinwhich they l V i s 5 and theweeds left on top ofzthejmulched 7 ground'todie. Figure- 9 is 'a fragnientary end View of a pulverizing cylind'ershowing the cuttlng disk mounted thereon as an al- 'tion showing-thedeviceadapted-for use with a ti actor'., Figurelllis a somewhat'-diagrammatic {horizontal section showing the cutting knives converging.Figure 12 illustrates a modified form of pulveriz'ing cylinder usuallyemploying disks instead of spikes.

j Similar numbers oflreferen-ce refer to'simil'ar parts" throughout" theseveral views. The seventh object is to so construct the .joined by anadjustable ,brace members "16 ,whichjissecuredby a bolt 17 Each end :15

is provided'with a pair of-forked members 1 a ng v moun d 1 a os th owrg thereof a bolt 1 9on Whichisrotatably mounted a tubular {hub 20 on.which is placed the jcutting disk which is secured to the hub bythe nuts220m each'side thereof.

-. The nuts 33 end 36 over which extends an oppositely. dished weedguard cap 37 which is secured to the arm27 by means of a rivet 38.

etc. Each outermost forked member-mas provided with a series ofperforations 26 to which may be adjustably attached other eleimen'tsi,To 'one opening 26 in each of the four members 18 is attached an end ofa perforated arm 27 across whose lowerends are, mounted the bolts 28which form the axis forthe pulverizing cylinders, each of which consistsof a plurality of wire splkes 29 wound on the tubular member 30 andspaced by the shouldered sections 31 pr ov 1d ed-with notches 32 topermit the wires to pass between the sections and to be firmly heldthereby. Each end of the tube 30 threaded and provided with a nut 33 forhold ng thesections in place. Spacer sleeves 34 are also providedbetween the sections 31 for the purpose of holding the coiled portion35of the spikes 29.

bear directly against a dished On each outermember 18 is mounted a bolt39 which carries the side arm 40 of an Lshaped knife 41, which knife isin front I fastens the arm 27 of the spikes 29 of the pulverizervcylinder.

The arm 40 is provided with perforations 42 and its upper end 43 heldbymeans of a clamping bar 44 to the bolt 45, which also In the form ofthe 9 the disk 21 is placed directly on the pulverizer roll shaft 30tosatisfycertain requirements made by the agriculturist, althoughnormally it is desirable to hold the disk 21 in advance of both the weedcutting knife 41 1 and the pulverizing spikes 29. M a

In the form of the device shown in Figure 10 instead of being mounted ona handled frame 14 (as shown in Fig -1) the forks L 18-A- are attacheddirectly .to the draw bar 53' of the wheeled vehicle 54, usually self--propelled.

In Figure 11 the weed cutting knives 46 are shown angling perceptiblywith relation between the sections 31 of the pulverizing cylinder andthree disks are normally all that" to the line of travel, which is alsodesirable under certain conditions.

In Figure 12 dished disks'47 are employed are required, although ofcourse in certain soils and under certain conditions more could el wrend o the arms The operation of this device is as follows: Assumi'ngtheparts to be assembled as shown in 1 andadjusted to the height of theoperator, the"w-idthi of the plant ridge, the

depth ofthe weed cutting knife andthe position of the pulveri'zingspikes, the operator merely pushes'the cultivator ahead of him, whichperforms the following successive op erations'zfirst, lining out theplant row 50,

'as shown in Fig. 5, by means of the disks 21 second, cutting the rootsof theweeds51, as

shown in F ig. 6, by, means of the knives 41;

third, the thorough pulveriza tion of the soil .52 betweenthe ridges orplant rows 50 by means of the spikes 29 and the simultaneous depositingof thejweeds 51 'on top of the pulverized soil 52. v

Referring again .to'the form of the device shown in Figure 9 wherein thecutting disk 21 is coaxial with the shaft 30 and mounted thereon, whenso used it will be understood that the pulverizing spikes 29 or disks 47as the case may be,.will be mounted in front of the knife blade 41'instead of behind same,

which would be the desirable manner of operating samewhen the ground isrelatively hard and the number and size of weeds small, in which casethe cultivator could be operated with much less manual effort than ifoperated as shown in Figure 1 although at other times 3 it wouldnaturally be desirable to have the r a cutting blade 21 ahead of the.cultivator. device shown in Figure devices broadly, but I do intendtocover all such forms and modifications thereof as fall fairly within theappended claims. I claim: 7

1. A cultivatorhaving in combination a frame, a pair of laterally spacedspiked c 1-,.

inders mountedat the rear of said-frame. a

,pair of upright cutting disks mounted on said frame in front of saidcylinders adapted to cut the ground centrally of thestripscultivated bysaid cylinders, horizontal cutting knives supported by said framebetween said cutting disks and said wspiked cylinders, and

means for adjusting the relationship between said cylinders, knives anddisks.

*2. In a cultivator thecombination'of a pair of upright cutting disksadapted to straddle the plant row, a pair of horizontal cutting knivesout-side of and behind said cutting disks, 3, spiked pulverizingcylinder directly behind each cutting knife, a guard extending from eachcutting disk baokwardly past the inner end of each pulverizing cylinder,and means for holding the various members 'in relation to each other.

ADOLPH L. BITTER.

